Delta Air Lines today applied with the DOT for authority to operate between Ft. Lauderdale and Mexico City.

Delta states if plans to offer daily service on the route commencing July 2013 utilizing 160-seat Boeing 737 aircraft.
However DL also request the flexibility depending on market demand to operate the service on a seasonal basis.

FLL: DL has been busy slashing service as the LCCs have been adding flights during recent years. This would certainly be the first new route added from FLL in a long time. Why would they do this now, when they have a weaker presence than ever before? Seems like mission better suited for AM...

MEX: DL has, as with most other Mexican markets both VFR and leisure, tried just about everything they can think of in the past 5 years or so. The only stuff that works? The established routes to strong hubs at ATL, JFK, and DTW. I don't see how FLL would fare any differently from the likes of SLC, MEM, MSP, MCO...

FLL-MEX is probably a viable route, but I would expect a Mexican carrier like AM, Y4, or 4O to do it, or perhaps an American LCC - NK has opted to serve Mexico City via TLC, but there is B6 and even FL/WN...

Flying in the middle seat of coach is much better than not flying at all!

The slot was for MIA so I don't think they had a choice. As for doing better or not ehh probably not. For a flight like that the customer base is pretty much the same. Maybe they could get some traffic that would rather go PBI-ATL-LHR or something instead of driving to MIA. Since no national carrier from the states or Europe has tried FLL-Europe there has to be something up with the market. Maybe it would just be difficult to compete with the airlines at MIA.

"It was just four of us on the flight deck, trying to do our job" (Captain Al Haynes)

Quoting flymia (Reply 13):Since no national carrier from the states or Europe has tried FLL-Europe there has to be something up with the market.

I am not surprised at all. Almost nobody in Europe knows what or where Fort Lauderdale is and obviously everyone knows about Miami. Not much different in Latin America. Maybe for Port Everglades... but it is not a big deal to drive from there to MIA anyway... FLL is a huge US/Canada destination, but it is not internationally known.

I reckon the only way to market it for Europe would be calling it Miami-North "a la Ryanair". Even Spirit calls it "Miami, FL Area - Fort Lauderdale, FL (FLL)".

Disagree. Many Europeans own property in Boca Raton & Palm Beach, which if landing in Miami, you have pass Ft Lauderdale on 95 to get to Boca. The amount of wealth up that way is astounding. On a recent boat trip I took up the Intercoastal, I counted at least 5-6 waterfront homes with Norwegian and Swedish flags out front.

Indeed, Lynn University attracts PLENTY of international students to boot. I've seen it firsthand.

Polo, tennis, golf...I could go on for a while

The European airlines go to Miami because they have more to gain by going there with regards to feed.

So if FLL was called Miami/Ft. Lauderdale airport it would have a better chance for European service? FLL is 20 miles north of MIA. Many airports across the world which are the cities main international gateways are farther than that from the city center like IAD. I think MIA just has more to offer. FLL does rank in the top 20 in International passengers in the U.S. just weak on Europe. Condor could not make it work either.

"It was just four of us on the flight deck, trying to do our job" (Captain Al Haynes)

Didn't NK have rights on this route a few years back? There was a flurry of Florida-Mexico applications when they changed the limits to 2 Mexico + 2 US flag carriers in the larger US-Mexico markets a few years ago.

Some airlines (including DL, I think) used to list FLL flights under "Miami" with an airport identifier "F" for FLL and "M" for MIA similiar to listing LGA, JFK, and EWR flights together under "New York."

One issue with offering more international service from FLL besides the market economics is the fact that only T4 has FIS, and I believe it's pretty packed. DL's terminal at FLL does not have FIS, so I assume this MEX flight or any other would have to arrive at T4 and then be towed back to T2 for later departure.

Quoting MaverickM11 (Reply 23):there's not much feed to be had beyond MIA, even for oneworld carriers.

You are kidding right?

AA feeds hoards of pax of its Caribbean and Central American flight on to its (and other OW carriers) LHR, MAD etc.

A few months ago I did LHR-MIA and standing at the luggage carosel and I saw bags tagged for onward travel to GCM, POS, MCO, LAX (yes can you believe that), LIM, MGA, TGU, SJO, MBJ, VVI, EYW, NAS and PAP....thats when I got my bag as I was going on to BZE.

In two weeks I am doing BZE-MIA-CTG....on a single ticket AA/AV (Y ticket: US$1400).....Yes, MIA has lots of O&D, but it also serves a very lucrative connecting market.

When in doubt, hold on to your altitude. No-one has ever collided with the sky.

25 MaverickM11
: Nope, of course AA feeds traffic but international-international connections present a few more obstacles than domestic-international or domestic-dom